Beer and Internet!!! IRONIC

I just had to add that we have gone to the same internet place twice in Florence and I had a beer with the internet. I hope I dont get a beer belly. Yikes. Why is is to hot!!! Its great! Im loving the heat. Germany is cold...but its also cold in the morning, but not for long. Im heading SOUTH!! Whoohoo.

Gladiator took my money!!!

A story in Rome to be told.
We are such tourist when a few actors pull you in for pictures. Thats what happened to us in Rome.
When we were siteseeing the Colosseum, we got pulled over to take pictures with these 2 gladiators. We laughed and walked off. Unfortuanlety, they followed us and made us laugh even more. We then gave in and took pictures with them. They made us to different actions right in front of the Colosseum. yes, it was fun, until they told us to pay the 10 Euros each. WHAT!!! What did we get ourselves into. Yes we had so much fun doing it, but didnt expect to pay 10 euros each. What a rip off. We thought it was by dontation. Well, we had fun as we gave the 10 euros and gave them each a kiss goodbye. They so wanted to come with us, but nope, we werent going back. Pictures will be posted, so watch out for them. You will get a kick out of this one. It better be worth 10 Euros.

Grouse Grind X 2

Alright you hikers out there. If you want to do an amazing hike, you got to go to Italy and do the Cinque Terre. Tanya and I didnt even do the whole thing. We did do the harest part which would be considered as doing the grouse grind twice. My calves are burning. We had to get up so early to catch the train. Whoohoo...no fines today. We better write in the date for tomorrow, today.
The little towns inbetween the hikes are amazing. Its so beautiful that it takes your breathe away. The view is amazing as well. Dont worry, pictures to come. Its expensive for internet time...remember.

Im cutting down the cost of food, but not for our next destinations. Tanya says Naples is the place for Pizza. Good pizza that is. Ive been having bread, cheese, salami for lunch and dinner. Breakfast, i do have some fruit. The day we went to the market to get figs were the best. Yum, i love figs, especially when they are fresh. Whoohooo.

Siena and Naples here we come.

100 EUROS LATER!!!! NO MORE FOOD ALLOWANCE! IM GOING TO STARVE!!!

Alright,
im finally safe and dont have to sleep at a train station.
so, instead of going to florence like we planned, we heading to milan instead. what the heck did we go on the wrong train? the conductor just said to get on. why dont they check more throughly. so we got to milan...aka. simliar to NY and everything was booked. i tried to get on the last train back to florence but was too late. it then took 2 hours to try to find a hotel. in the end, we stayed at the train station. we got woken up by police to check out ticket at 1am and then got woken up again at 4am for us to get up. what a drag. no sleep, so tired and when we got to florence today, we couldnt check it because it was to early. we then took advantage of the market and walked around town before taking a power nap at 3. then off into town again to check it some more brand name shopping. im not into fashion as much. i like the markets...so much to see. i would like a leather jacket,  purse, boots, wallet... but do i really need it? it would be nice to buy a mask, those beautiful italian mask. its so pretty. should i or shouldnt i??? Any feedback? Im here for a few days.

So tomorrow, im heading on a wine tour. i get to make my own wine. whooohooo....and pick the grapes too. i cant wait. i just hope i dont buy too much wine. i still have to carry it with me.

Siteseeing is quite tiring. especially when you only have two legs...so much walking. my legs feel like jello....but whats worth it is when you get to sit and eat, and eat, and eat!!!!

All this food. bread, cheese, meat!!! What more can you ask for!! I do need my fruits and veggies and its cheap here. i got a bag full of fruit for 3 euros. what a deal. but since i spent 100 euros on being fined, then spending 3 euros on fruit isnt that bad.

So, you must be wondering how i can get fined 100 euros.
1. we did not get our eurorail stampped. we thought the conductor does it for us.
2. we did not realize that the train was going to milan. we thought there was a stop.
3. we did not buy the right ticket. it was for 1st class
4. since we did go to milan, we had to go back to florence. we spent 3 euros for the seat booking, thinking that we didnt need to write in the date...FINED again.
So, total fine is 50 euros to Milan and 50E euros to Florence.
This vacation is costing way more than expected. This weeks food allowance has gone down the drain. No more geleto for me. I dont have the funds....anyone want to sponsor me??? hahahah. jk.

None the less, this has been a great experience to learn it the hard way. i know my sister did all the planning last time we traveled. i wish i learned more when i traveled with her. not knowing the language isnt fun.
Italian is very different than German. I was just getting the hang of German and now a new langauge....perhaps i,ll just go back to Germany.

Alright, i think thats enough for now.
More stories to come with pictures. not fun paying for internet....why didnt i bring my laptop??? BECAUSE ITS TOO HEAVY!!! HAHAHAHA

Im in ITALY

Good Morning,
It is hard to believe I am now in Italy. I have found my way to meet up with Tanya, my travel buddy for the next 2 weeks. I knew it would be fine, going from the airport to the hostel. I could not remember the last time time how it feels to be a tourist. No chinese people at all..well, not very many anyway. This always opens my eyes on how little I may know about my own culture as people wonder and ask questions.....i am Canadian, but Chinese too. hahha.
I am heading to Florence today and site seeing Rome...not sure how many pictures will be available for me to post as internet access can be expensive. ill post more when i get back to Germany.

I'm in France!!!!

I'm heading to Italy tomorrow and Jan took me to France!!! FRANCE!!! I never thought I was going to go to France. It was special to go to France. We took a small car ferry to France and had dinner. It was a surprise. I totally did not know that we were going to France. It's not far away at all. I have to now stamp my own passport as there are no coast guards. It is open boarder. So cool. :)

We went to Roth Wilhelm for Tarte Flambee. It was a very salty and burnt, but I still enjoyed it. It's part of he experience right! :)

I'm still shocked that I went to France. It sure wasn't on my list to do in the last 5 days that I am here.

I head to Italy tomorrow, so depending on how much time I have at each place, i might not blog as much, but will blog my experiences when I get back. Until my next blog...more food and pictures to come.

My partner's Family - First Impression

My decision of going to Germany is for one major reason! My love of my life (at least I hope it is)! Jan is my first boyfriend and I hope to have an experience of a life time. By coming to Germany, I get a chance to meet his family. I don't know anything about the German culture or what they like or don't like. I was in for a surprise. These are Jan's parents (picture on the left). They are very friendly people and had open arms and heart for my arrival. They are excited about learning about me and my culture. But most of all, they are excited for Jan, that he has found someone that he can live in laughter with. My smile grows very day with what their family does for me and what Jan provides for me. My view on Germans is that they are kind, simple and open to the community. They live a simple life and will live life with the people around them and lots of dinners as a family. Very family oriented people. :) I fit right in.

This is the rest of Jan's family. (picture on the right)
He has an uncle, in the back row, and these are his grandparents in the front. I didn't realize that German's have small families, but family is all that they need. They support each other and are very close. Although I wasn't able to communicate with them, they were still able to show friendliness and kindness to me. We weren't able to spend a lot of time with them, but  I know i'll see them again soon.